Economy

This assignment concerns life in the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.  As you know from your reading in Orlow, the Federal Republic of Germany has existed from 1949 to the present. From 1949 to 1989 it was also known as West Germany.  The German Democratic Republic existed from 1949 to 1990.  During that time, it was also known as East Germany.

West Germany enjoyed remarkable economic prosperity and political stability during that time, with a few short exceptions.  Some observers even call it the most successful country in the world since 1945.  Its citizens have experienced strong economic growth, competent leadership, and a state that guarantees civil liberties.  East Germany was much less affluent than its western neighbor, although it enjoyed its own version of an economic “miracle” from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s.  For most of this time, it also enjoyed political stability, although this stability came at the price of repression and very restricted civil liberties.

For this essay, you can choose two different topics. You may write on West Germany’s so-called “economic miracle” during the 1950s or you may write on East Germany’s relative economic miracle during the mid-1950s.

Here are your essay prompts. Please choose one and only one to write about:

Choice #1.  Please consider the photograph from West Germany, in the year 1956.    . In your essay, please answer the following questions:  Would the economic policies of the West German government have allowed an average, middle class citizen to buy an item like this during the mid-1950s? Why or why not?

Choice #2:  Please consider the photograph from East Germany, in the year 1956.   Would the economic policies of the East German government have allowed an average, middle class citizen to buy an item like this during the mid-1950s? Why or why not?

Your answer is a three page, argumentative essay. That is, it must have a thesis, which is the answer the question above, and it must have an argument in support of your thesis.  To support your argument, you must make substantial use of the readings in Orlow, especially pages 237-284 regarding West Germany, and pages 298-312 regarding East Germany, depending upon which prompt you choose.